Srinagar: The government of India it is taking a number of steps for relief and rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits and 6,000 additional Transit Accommodations are being constructed for them in the Kashmir Valley, Ministry of Home Affairs said on Tuesday.
The statement comes days after governor Satya Pal Malik said ‘Separate Township’ for Kashmir Pandits was not “a matter of choice but out of necessity” and senior BJP leader Ram Madhav said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will revive a plan to build secured camps to resettle Pandit community members in the Kashmir Valley.
Replying to a question by National Conference president and parliamentarian Farooq Abdullah whether Government of India is coming up with a new rehabilitation policy for Kashmiri Pandits, Minister of State, Home Affairs, G Kissan Reddy said: “The Government is taking a number of steps for relief and rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits.”
Under the Prime Minister’s Development Package, 2015 announced by the Prime Minister on 7 November 2015, he said, the Government of India has approved creation of 3,000 additional State Government jobs for the Kashmiri migrants at a cost of Rs. 1,080 crore and construction of 6,000 Transit Accommodations in the Kashmir Valley at a cost of Rs. 920 crore.
“This is in addition to 3,000 State Government jobs, construction of 725 Transit Accommodations sanctioned earlier, besides financial assistance for construction of houses for the migrants and 5,242 two room tenements constructed in Jammu (Purkhoo, Muthi, Nagrota and Jagti) and 200 flats constructed at Sheikhpora in Budgam district for the migrants,” he said.
“The Government of India reimburses monthly cash relief to the Kashmiri migrants, which was enhanced in May, 2015 from Rs. 6,600 to Rs 10,000 per family. Further, in June, 2018, the cash relief has been enhanced from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 13,000 per family,” he said, adding, “Besides, the Government of India also reimburses the monthly cash relief to the Kashmiri migrants settled in Delhi/NCR.”
